Success! Canada will stop distributing the penny in the
Fall 2012.

The 1 cent piece costs more than a cent to make. 1.25 cents
in metal alone, 1.5 cents if you add in labour and distribution
costs.

Its value is negligible in any financial transaction.

We lose cents, throw them away, accumulate them in jars.

The coin rolling takes more time than the coins are worth,
costs for coin holders for cents make this pastime dubious.

Despite the fact that they buy very little, the Canadian Mint produced 678
million of them last year. . . . John Palmer, an associate
professor of economics at the University of Western Ontario,
says people who defend pennies are practising poor economics and
being overly sentimental.
-- Alberta Report / Western Report, August 15, 1994

Marketing and Research Counselors of Canada Inc. asked
Canadians about the penny during May and June 1993. About 41 per
cent of Canadians surveyed wouldn't care if the penny was
scrapped and 10 per cent toss them in the trash. The study also
found another 37 per cent would miss the copper if it
disappeared.

An American study on the use of the penny found that it
increased the amount of time store clerks must spend with
customers by approximately three seconds each. "Add up every
transaction that takes place across North America," says Prof.
Palmer, "even if you only multiply that time by the minimum
wage, it adds to up to millions of dollars of time wasted."
-- Alberta Report / Western Report, August 15, 1994

Liberal MP Bob Kaplan wants to get rid of coppers altogether.
Earlier this spring [1993], Kaplan introduced private bill C-422
in the House of Commons that would abolish the one-cent piece in
Canada. "It's become more trouble than it's worth," said Kaplan.
"It's inevitable that it will disappear."
. . .
New Zealand and Australia have already eliminated the penny in
their countries. The penny takes more to make than it's really
worth. It costs the mint a nickel to make four pennies,
resulting in millions of dollars in losses, Kaplan said.
-- The Gazette (Montreal) May 30, 1993

Businesses also face bigger costs because pennies are a
nuisance and can slow transactions and increase administrative
work. But the proposal wouldn't end $1.99 sale prices or
gasoline for 55.3 cents a litre.
Merchants could still list prices in cents and fractions of
cents, but the final amount paid would be rounded off to the
nearest five cents, Kaplan said. Private member's bills rarely
become law [it didn't] and without a new law, any final decision
on the penny is up to the finance department.
The department's policy is to supply pennies to the Canadian
market as long as businesses and consumers demand them. [So
stop demanding them]``The only reason we continue to make them is that there
continues to be a demand for them,'' said Murray Church,
spokesperson for the Royal Canadian Mint.
-- The Toronto Star April 23, 1993

What are we to do with the penny?Stop asking for
them.
Stop accepting
them.
Stop giving
them.Stop
making them!

1) Won't we get ripped off by a few cents each
time we
buy something? (e.g. 3.98 will become $4.00 because there are no
pennies)

Solution: Round final purchased price (up or down) to the nearest
5 cents.
This is a difference of +/- 2 cents on any transaction. Overall
the difference
will be zero. Gain 2 cents here, lose 2 there. It all balances
out.
To illustrate:

Coin Trivia: penny, nickel, dime, quarter are American coin
names. Canadian coins are the one cent piece, 5 cent piece . . .
the loonie, you get the idea.

2)Won't merchants set their prices so that they
gain
2 cents each time, like 1.98, 3.93, won't every thing end in 8 or
3?

This won't happen, taxes will change the numbers. 1.98 + 15% tax =
2.28 (2.30),
OK poor example. Lets try 3.93 +15% = 4.52 (4.50) OK that's
better. The point
is that the numbers will vary with different tax rates and
different prices.
It balances out in the end.
[I am told that in Austarlia some merchants list their prices with
the rounding
down shown.]

3) What if there is no tax? Then everything will
end
in .98 1.98, 2.98. Won't we get ripped off again?

If you buy more than one item 2 x.1.98 = 3.96 (3.95) the end
result changes
again, possibly in your favour. So the price adjusting will not
occur, since
it defeats itself.

4) How do I make this work?

Once this thing takes off it will be easy. Merchants would post a
sign on
their storefront or at the cash "No Cents" it would say. I would
encourage
everyone to patronize such stores. We will actively encourage all
store keepers
to follow this lead. Its Simple. its Cheaper, its Better. "No
Cents, Makes
Sense"

Consumers can participate by refusing cents, or just put them in
the "give
a penny, take a penny" bins.

5) Why not just use those "give a penny, take a
penny"
bins?

Because there is still the overhead of having pennies in the
register and
making change, and most people forget to give a penny. Getting rid
of pennies
would save the Govt. money, business money. Everyone wins when
everyone knows
how it works.

6) What if I want my two cents?

There will always be people who cling to the past and cents are
from the
past (change is as well, but that's another campaign). There used
to be a
half cent (when you could actually buy something with it) and
hogsheads were
a common unit of measurement. I feel it is time to put the penny
to rest.

7) Don't they owe me that change?

Merchants are not required by law to give you change (any change)
but they
do so because it is good store policy.

Furthermore, merchants can refuse payment if you use more than 25
cents.
You cannot pay for a 5$ purchase with cents. They can lawfully
refuse it
(the bad PR is another issue) And payments of more than $10 in
coin (5, 10,
25, 50 cent pieces) can also be refused. Just some more coin
trivia for you.

If we get rid of the cent, there will be room in the till for
the 2$coin (Toonie)

You may have to forgo up to 4 cents per transaction to get this
thing started.
Just refuse to take any cents they give you. Leave them on the
counter if
you have to. I have neither given nor accepted ANY cents since
November 1995.